Once Apon a NightMare
by Padfoot35
Summary: A story of mine written in the HP world with original main characters. Takes place during the rise and fall of The Dark Lord.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I in know own or have anything to do with Harry Potter. If I did I wouldn't be writing this now would I? :) I oh a special thanks to Alyssa, Dee, and others of the HPRPGNET for the use of their spectacular characters.  
  
Chapter One:  
  
The night sky was beautiful and clear, all the stars bright and plain to see from were the two children lay, gazing up at them in wonder. It was a habit the twins had made. Every evening they trudged up the old hill behind their manor and watched the starts together, dreaming dreams that could only be dreamt by a pair of typical, naive eight year olds. But they weren't at all what you would call normal. They happened to be wizards.  
Anika and Numair were perfectly identical, if you barred the fact that one was a girl and one was a boy. It was only natural for them to do everything together . Little rituals like this made were what made life worth while.  
  
"Hey Ani?" Numair rolled over on his side, resting his head on his hand,  
the better to look at his sister.  
  
She sighed. "What?"  
  
"Do you think they've stopped fighting yet?"  
  
Ani shrugged. "More than likely not."  
  
"Why does she get so angry at him?"  
  
Another sigh. "If I knew that we wouldn't sit here and talk about it for hours now would we?"  
  
"I guess so."  
  
"It's that Voldomort fellow, you know, the one who said all the bad stuff about the muggles. Dad thinks he's right and Mum thinks we should just listen to Albus and leave it all alone."  
  
"Oh." Numair was still completely clueless as to what that all meant. There wasn't anything wrong with the muggles. And he liked Professor Dumbledore. He didn't understand why his father was so mad at him, he just trying to help everybody. Ah, the mentality of a child.  
  
Ani shrugged again. "I think we should just forget about it. It's a grownup problem, they'll sort it out eventually."  
  
Numair laid back again, satisfied with his sister's answer. She was the smart one after all, she should know. A sudden thought occurred to him. All the grown ups seemed to do was argue, and argue pointlessly. Would they ever end up like that?  
  
"We won't ever fight like that will we?"  
  
Ani laughed at the horror she heard in her brothers voice. "Of course not silly. I could never be mad at you. You're my other half."  
  
"We'll be together always right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
The scarlet steam engine let out a loud whistle, slowly starting to move. Numair leaned out the compartment window, waving good bye to his mother and father. Only the former waved back. His father seemed preoccupied by something. He continued waving until the train began to pick up speed when he was abruptly pulled from his perch.  
  
"Oh come one Numie, lets do something. This is boring." Numair sighed in exasperation with his easily bored sister. "Ok."  
  
Three years had gone by and much had changed for the pair.  
  
They were no longer exactly the same. While they still shared the wavy black hair and bright green eyes, Numair had grown taller but still had that little boyish look to him. Ani on the other hand was a good foot shorter to him, and a great deal more mature in every aspect of the word. A few months ago (to the surprise of none) They'd received owls from Hogwarts, telling them they'd been excepted into the school of witch craft and wizardry. A blessing for Ani who felt smothered by her family and wanting nothing more than to get away for a while, but Numair didn't think it would be much different. The castle was only a little ways from their home after all. Even if they were forced to ride the stupid train. Silly parents.  
  
"What do you want to do? There isn't much really. We could go over some books again, or the spells before we get there....." she cut him off with a glance.  
  
"Do you really want to spend the entire trip there reading some old spell book? Come one Numie, where's your since of adventure? Lets go find some other first years to talk to or something."  
  
"But I like it just fine right here. And reading is fun."  
  
"Yeah, for little bookworms like you. Ok, you stay here and read your little heart out, I'm going to go find someone to talk to. Haven't you ever heard the term 'friends'?" she turned and exited through the compartment door.  
  
Numair just shook his head, settling back into his seat and removing 'Standard Book of Spells Grade One' and his wand (seventeen inches, Ash, Dragon heartstring. Lovely thing) from his trunk. He already read it three times and could work most of the spells, but there was no harm in going over it again. He spent a good hour at it, uninterrupted. As though from a long way off he heard the door slide open.  
  
"Leave me alone Ani, I'm buisy." he didn't look up from his book.  
  
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't realize someone was in here. I'll find some were else." The voice wasn't Ani's. Numair glanced up to see a boy he judged to be about his own age standing in the door, dragging his trunk behind him. He was a bit shorter than Numair with short black hair and cold gray eyes that made Numair think of ice.  
  
"Oh no, that's okay you can come in. I thought you were my sister. She should be around here some were." the boy nodded and Numair returned to his book.  
  
The boy stowed his trunk on one of the racks and took a seat across from Numair. "Um, my name's Emerson Linwood." he smiled shyly.  
  
Numair looked up at him again. "Numair Johns. Nice to meet you Emerson. Are you a first year too?"  
  
"Yeah." there followed a moment of slightly awkward silence. "So, wacha' readin'?"  
  
Ani returned right before the train stopped to find her brother in deep conversation with some other first year boy. She nodded at him absently before grabbing her brother by the arm and dragging him off.  
  
"Ouch! Hey, what are you doing I was talking!"  
  
"The trains just stopped, don't you want to get off?"  
  
"Well yeah, but you could have let me say goodbye first, or we coulda' gone together. Hey, let go, that hurts!"  
  
Ani released her brothers arm as they exited the train and Emerson joined them. They were, for the twins anyway, once again in Hogsmeade.  
  
"Firs' years this way! Firs years!" they turned and saw what must be the biggest man in existence (to their age limited knowledge anyway) waving for the first years to join him. The twins looked at each other,  
shrugged, and went to join their fellow first years around the giant man.  
  
What followed was a very memorable boat ride across a very violent lake. Beautiful as the castle was looking at it from this angle, Numair was extremely happy when their boats drifted in to the cliff opening and they climbed out. He felt a little queasy.  
  
"Alrigh' ther' laddie?" the big man clapped him on the shoulder, nearly sending him to his knees. "Yre' lookin' a lit'le green." he laughed. It was a booming sound that quite terrified Numair. "Com' on then."  
  
They walked up a flight of stone steps were they were greeted by a severe looking witch wearing square spectacles.  
  
"Thar' ya' go Professor. Be gent'l with em' now. Seems som' a em' are a might bit sea sick." he laughed again as the witch led them into the entrance hall.  
  
Numair shivered and took a step closer to his sister. He could hear the sound of hundreds of happy children through two giant doors across from them. It made him nervous. The spectacled witch was speaking.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts first years. Now, in a few moments I'm going to lead you through that door...." 


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: Garrr, that first chapter so did not come out the way I wanted it to.I had to change the file type and it messed everything up. I'll go back and fix it later so it's more understandable, but at the moment I'm too lazy. :)  
  
Chapter Two:  
  
The sorting hat. It was by far the oddest thing young Numair had ever come across. Then again, he was also scared half out of his mind. A talking hat didn't help any.  
  
He sat that there, listening to the hat whisper in his ear,  
debating on were to put him. Mere moments before his sister had been placed in Gryffindor, and he hoped with all his heart he'd end up there too, but it wasn't looking that way.  
  
"Hmmmmm. I think you'd do mighty fine in Ravenclaw. Brilliant mind. Quite the book worm I see..... but no, I don't think that would quite work. You're far to ambitous for that." the hat almost sounded..... pitying. "You're going to really be something kid,  
but Ravenclaw isn't it. No Gryffindor, no matter what you may wish.  
Pity. You'd have done well."  
  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
Numair nearly jumped out of his skin when the hat shouted out. The feeling was even worse when he realised the choice the hat had made.  
Slytherin. Slytherin. Were all the evil wizards came from. He numbly removed the hat and walked to the table on the far side of the great hall were the Slytherin table was still clapping enthusiasticaly for their newest edition.  
  
"Hey, welcome to Hogwarts kid." he didn't know who said it, nor did he care. The only thing on his mind was that he'd been sorted into Sytherin Ani had not.  
  
He took a seat between a dark haired boy mayby a few years older than him and an empty seat. The older boy completely ignored him, for which he was greatful. He watched the others get sorted one by one. Emerson ended up in Slytherin too. He took the empty seat beside Numair, grinning as though being put in Slytherin was exactly what he'd wanted. Like it was a good thing. Numair wished he could share his new friend's enthusiasm.  
  
Dumbladore, a tall silver haired wizard, rose and gave a start of term speech that Numair didn't listen too. He was too buisy looking acroos the room to the table were his sister was, already chatting with a red haired second year girl, looking quite happy. She didn't even seem to care he'd ended up in another house. He turned back to face his own table, which had just been covered in food, but he wasn't hungry. He was scared. And suddenly he felt very lonely. Ani was in Gryffindor,  
making friends, and he was over here, feeling miserable. It wasn't fair.  
  
"Hey, what's wrong?" he looked up to see Emerson looking at him with concern.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."  
  
The first few days at Hogwarts weren't all that bad, but they weren't all that good either. Numair and Emerson went to all their classes together, talked alot. He even talked with some of the other first years. He still felt miserable in side, though he tried his best not to show it.  
  
Ani spoke to him rarely, looked at him even less. He got the impression she was enjoying this new found freedom. He'd always followed her around,  
as attached to her as another limb. He was with out a doubt the most emotionaly immature of the pair. He couldn't do anything without Ani.  
She'd gotten frustrated with him more than once, often telling him it was more like having a baby brother than one that was the same age as her, but she'd allways forgive him and seek him out were ever he'd gotten off to.  
  
Here, it wasn't like that. It was almost as if she avoided him on purpouse. Like she didn't want to be with him. He supposed it would ware off as she got over the newness of him not being able to follow her all day, but at the moment it was very depressing.  
  
And they'd been sorted in to two houses with extreme rivalry. It'd be impossible to spend time with her even if she wanted him to. Heh. Couldn't get much worse.  
  
Atleast Numair did well in all his classes. It was all far to easy. He even found himself enjoying flying class, and he had a severe fear of hights. Atleast it kept him buisy. Nothing like flying all the way around the grounds, upside down, Madame Hooch desperately chasing after you, trying to instruct you on how to stop or run into something that would knock you out of the air without killing you........  
  
The days flew by quite uneventfuly. He went to classes. He did homework.  
He studied. Read. Got chased by Peeves. Nothing out of the ordinary.  
  
Halloween came and went. The feast was truely amazing, so Numair heard.  
He hadn't gone. Instead, he and Emerson had been sneaking around the castle. The next day Professor McGonagle found a lovely little green snake in her desk drawer.  
  
Finally, at long last, it was Christmas. To Numair's relief, both twins desided to go home for the holidays. It was actually kind of nice. Their parents at least pretended they weren't on the verge of removing one another,  
and Ani talked to him more than she had in months. Everything seemed normal again. She told him all about how her year had been so far, how she'd made a ton of friends. He listened, just happy to share her company.  
It was nice to not be ignore for once.  
  
When he asked her why she had, he wished he hadn't.  
  
"I haven't been ignoring you Numie, I've been distancing myself from you, and with good reason! I'm not always going to be around, and you need to learn to function on your own. I love you, but I'm sick and tired of being treated like we're one person, 'cause we're not. Everybodies always shoving us together, when really we should be spending more time apart. I thought that by being away from you as much as possible you might,  
well, I thought you just might grow up a little bit! You're such a baby sometimes!"  
  
After that he'd gone out back to their hill and didn't come back in till the next day. No one seemed to care. It made him want to cry.  
And the worst part was, she was right. She was right. And it wasn't fair.  
  
Numair spent the rest of his holiday locked in his room, reading the new books he'd gotten for Christmas. Once or twice his mother came to ask him what was wrong, but he just shrugged it off,  
telling her nothing was wrong and he didn't want to be bothered.  
  
He was glad when school started again. He and Emerson spent all their time causing as much trouble as possible. And Numair began to notice that he and his friend were avoided by most everyone, mostly because of Emerson. For reasons Numair couldn't even begin to comprehind,  
Emerson Linwood was extremely different. He knew things other kids said he shouldn't. Their troublemaking didn't help his reputation any.  
  
It helped to pass the time. Which flew by at great speed. Easter came and then was gone. School exams. The boys scraped by on those. Ani did excellent. They went home for what was with out a doubt the worst summmer of their lives.  
  
Numair was mad at Ani, for reasons he couldn't explain. When she asked him why he'd no longer speak to her the way he used to, he said simply, "Well,  
don't you see sister? I've grown up. I thought you'd be proud of me." 


	3. Chapter Three

A/N: Moving right along. I skipped ahead a bit, fifth year. Suppose you can call it a 'turning point'. Enjoy.  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
"I think you should talk to her." Numair was jerked out of his reverie.  
He and Emerson were seated beneath a tree by the lake, and had been talking about the O.W.L.s they'd be taking soon. However, Numair hadn't been listening for a good fifteen minutes now. He was to buisy watching a group of girls who were chatting by the lake.  
  
"Huh? Who?"  
  
"You know good and well who. You just waste away half of your life watching her. Quite obviously too."  
  
Numair scowled. "I do not. I'm not even looking at them, I'm looking past them" a pathetic lie. "And even if I were, I've no clue who you're talking about."  
  
Emerson laughed. "That cute Gryffindor girl, what's her name, Amaris or something like that."  
  
Numair flushed slightly. It was true, he had a rather lareg crush on her.  
Amaris was a Gryffindor, smame year as them, and he found her quite beautiful. "Oh. Her."  
  
Emerson laughed again. "Yeah, her. Why don't you just say something to her already? I'm getting sick of you staring at her like a lovesick dog all the time."  
  
Numair sighed. "I can't. She'd never want to talk to me, she's a Gryffindor,  
and she's smart and....and.... I'm just.... just not. Smart pretty Gryffindors don't like guys like me."  
  
"How do you know? She might."  
  
"She won't."  
  
"Oh, you're a real wuss sometimes you know it? Fine, if you won't talk to her, then I will. I happen to like her too, and I've no intentions to sit here and daydream. I'll be back." Emerson rose, plastered a smile on his face, and walked over to were the girls were sitting.  
  
Numair couldn't hear what was said, but from the look of things and the extreme amount of giggling he caught they were quite happy with Emerson talking to him. And why wouldn't they be? He was the dangerous, handsome Slytherin boy. Even the most predjudice Gryffindor surely found that appealing.  
  
Numair had to admit, he was just a tad bit jealous. Emerson was generaly extremely shy, and in the years before hadn't talked to anyone else unless he just had to. And now all the sudden he seemed almost too outgoing. Mayby he'd gotten tired of being lonely. Who knew?  
  
When Emerson returned a good thirty minutes later, he was grinning.  
  
"I have a date. Next Hogsmeade weekend. And her friend thinks you're cute, just so you know. She's alright if you ignore the giggle fits..."  
  
Numair sighed. "Lucky you. And you can tell her friend I think she's annoying and can't stand the giggle fits long enough to ignore them."  
  
Emerson seated himselt again, still grinning. "Oh, come on, lighten up a bit. You aren't mad at me are you? If you are I can...."  
  
"No, I'm not. I'm just tired that's all. And I need to go study. I am so not prepared for the OWLs. See you later." he got up and headed for the castle, not waiting for an answer. It didn't improve his mood any when the girls giggled as he walked by them. Geeze. What were they,  
heyenas?  
  
He spent the rest of the day burried in books. Studying was always a good way for him to get his mind off things that bothered him. And he really did need to. Unlike most of the rest of his house, he planned on passing the OWLs with flying colors. If he did anything less than spectacular he'd be extremely disapointed in himself.  
  
Sometime during the evening Emerson finally came in and he gave him a quick goodnight. He wasn't mad at him, but he wasn't overly pleased either. It made him feel terrible. Part of him wanted to be happy for his friends success, and another part of him wanted to lash out at him in anger. When he finally went up to bed he decided to just forget about it. it was just a girl after all, no need to let it affect their friendship.  
  
As it turned out Emerson and Amaris had an excellent Hogsmeade visit, and it became a frequent event for them to go together. Numair was grudgingly happy for them. He managed to be civil about it anyway. Emerson didn't seem to notice his lack of enthusiasm.  
  
Numair ended up spending a great deal more time with his sister. They helped eachother study. Other than that he avoided her. Everytime they started normal conversation she'd end up going off at him about how he need to straighten up before he got into serious trouble, or giving him a lecture on who he talked to. Apparently she thought of most all Slytherins as being evil and on their way to joining the Dark Lord. He disagreed.  
  
When Voldomort had declared himself the 'Dark Lord' and started gaining followers, many of the Slytherins had indeed been intrigued. Paticularly Emerson. They spent a large amount of time talking about it, but that was all it was. Talk. None of them were really serious. Ani just worried to much, that was all.  
  
He didn't have time to worry about muggle killers anyway. OWLs had started and he spent all his time either running franticaly from test to test or studying untill he couldn't see straight. Emerson was a great deal more layed back about it all, and kept telling him he should relax. He was smart, he could do it. On these occasions Numair told him he should go chat with his girlfriend and leave him alone.  
  
It was quite a relief when the tests were over. And so passed another year. And another. And another. Time seemed to fly by so fast. It seemed like one day they were taking their OWLs and the next Emerson was marrying Amaris and moved off to Ireland, Ani was going off to take additional schooling to be an auror, and Numair was left pretty much alone, with a very minor job at the Ministry in the Magical Cooperation department,  
living in a flat in london.  
  
So much had happened in so little time. Numair felt as though he'd been left behind somehow, forgotten. His sister and friends were all moving on to bigger things and he still spent most of his time in his parents house. Sad really.  
  
To make matters worse for him, his father had done the unthinkable,  
joining the man who most people no refused to speak the name of. A mere few years and he'd already managed to terrify most people out of their wits. And now his father was one of them.  
  
Numair's mother and Anika had no clue of course, though his mother was suspicious. She was just to blinded by love too bother putting all the clues together, and Ani was too buisy.  
  
But Numair knew. His father tried to convence him to join him too, every chance he got. Numair was afraid for his father's sanity. It didn't help any that his sister was well on her way to aurorhood and the crazy man wasn't doing much of anything to hide his allegance. It was amazing he hadn't been caught yet. Yet. Atleast that was what Numair had been thinking a week before.  
  
He'd been at work when the owl came. Apparently his father had been involved in some form of muggle torcher and a group of aurors turned up. He'd resisted vehemently. They said they had no choice, there was nothing they could do.  
  
Numair had glared at the young auror responsible with anger in his eyes.  
"NOTHING YOU COULD DO?! You're aurors for christ's sake, it's your job to bring people in ALIVE!" but no amount of yelling did any good. What was done was done. His father was dead.  
  
There was no funeral. No one but Numair and his mother would have gone anyway. He was burried in a cemetary in Hogsmeade without much ceromony.  
Numair spent hours standing at the headstone, wondering why his father had been so stupid.  
  
A few weeks later he moved back in with his mother. She was, to put it lightly, in shock. She just lay there, all day long, staring off at nothing. Numair did his best to care for her, but it was apparent she needed more than he could give. It was Ani who finally came up with the only possible solution.  
  
She came to visit for a few days, to check on Numair more than out of anything else.  
  
"Oh Numie, I really don't think there's anything you can do for her any more. You tried your best, but...." she paused, searching for the right words. "I think his death was a bit to much for her to handle."  
  
Numair, who had been pacing in front of the large stone fireplace in their fathers old study, stopped and turned to look at his sister.  
  
"Yeah, I bet it was." he couldn't keep the sarcsam out of his voice.  
"You don't seem to upset though."  
  
Ani sighed. "Look, the way I see it those aurors did the world a favor.  
You know what dad was like. Think of how many innocent muggles might have been spared becuase he isn't around...."  
  
It was the wrong thing to say. "How can you say that about our FATHER!  
I know he wasn't the best of men but he was our dad! How can you sit ther and tell me that what that mud-blood auror did was right? How?"  
  
Ani's eyes flashed angrily. "You've no right to call him a mudblood. I happen to know and like him. And I can say it becuase it's true."  
  
Numair stared at her a moment longer, green eyes filled with anger.  
She was just like everyone else. To her he was just another Death Eater (as they'd been calling themselves) dead, not their father. Their fahter that had loved them, no matter what wrongs he might have done.  
  
It pushed Numair over the edge. "Get out of my house."  
  
"What?" Ani was confused.  
  
"Apparently I wasn't very clear. I said, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! Dad left it to me, and I don't want you here! OUT!"  
  
She left. Quickly. A few days later however she came to help him take their mother to Saint Mungo's. They didn't speak to eachother the entire time and Ani left as quickly as possible.  
  
Numair hung around a bit longer, sitting beside the bed in the ward of the hospital that would now be his mother's home. She apparently couldn't see or hear him, but he talked to her anyway.  
  
"Don't you worry mom, I'm going to fix this. I'm going to fix it good."  
He'd made up his mind. Before his death his father had mentioned someone by the name of Malfoy, who he should see if he ever made the 'right decision'. After he left Mungo's he headed for were, if his memory was still good, the Malfoy manner could be found. 


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four:  
  
Malfoy manor was big. Very big. And not like house big, more along the lines of castle big. Numair, who was at least a good six feet tall, strained his neck just trying to see the top. It was amazing. And it was nothing like what he expected a dark wizards home to look like.  
  
He'd thought he'd arive at this big, dark, dank moldy old cathedral like place. Something scary. Instead he found himself staring in awe at a very well taken care of home, surrounded by a large black fence.  
The geats were slightly ominous with a large 'M' surrounded by serpents heads on them, but other than that.... it was like a very large version of his own home.  
  
Beautiful garden. Hedges, flowers....... it made him him think of his pathetic underwatered rose bush. He made a mental note to take better care of it.  
  
Numair walked up to the front door. For a moment he hesitated. It had taken a great amount of trust for his father to have told him about someone like this. Had he wanted, Numair could have turned them both over to the Ministry. Or mayby it wasn't trust. He probably figured Numair would be too afraid to do something like that. And he was. But he was even more afraid to be standing at a powerful dark wizard's doorstep,  
on the verge of going in and asking him to take him to Voldomort.  
  
It was madness. What was he thinking? He didn't belong here, he wasn't cut out for anything the Dark Lord did. He'd heard all the stories, even seen the effects of it first hand. In his last year at Hogwarts it seemed like every day children were getting owls telling them another family member was dead. Almost all of them muggle-borns. He was too much of a coward for this.  
  
Then he thought of his father. What that auror had done to him. Accident indeed. These were the kind of people who could get him the kind of revenge he so terribly desired. Was it worth it? Yes. Oh yes it was.  
  
Numair took a deep breath to calm himself and then knocked. The door had a very interesting knocker on it. Shaped like a serpents head. Seemed like everything around here was like that.  
  
He was just thinking that mayby no one was home, but then the door swung open slowly, creaking. It made him wence.  
  
Standing in front of him was a very dirty house-elf. "Hello sir, Um,  
welcome, my master is......"  
  
"Oh get out of the way you wretched creature." the house elf was throne aside. "Dear, dear. Don't you look a lot like your father. Come in, come in." the door was swung wide and Numair took a tentative step inside,  
wanting to see this man. Whoever it was was already walking away,  
waving for him to follow.  
  
"He told me he thought you were quite the prospect. But stuborn."  
  
"Did you know my father well?" Numair asked, trying desperately to catch up to the mans long graceful strides.  
  
"Oh yes. Good old Delarahs. He was a friend of the family. Pity what happened to him. You've probably actually met me at some point before.  
We're cousins of some sort, through a distant marrage. Most pure-bloods are though, so that's really not saying anything."  
  
"I'm Lucius Malfoy by the way.  
  
Numair nodded to himself. He'd been paying more attention to the halls he was walking through than what was being said. It was amazing. Paintings hung here and there, their occupants for the most part asleep. He guessed they must be ancesstors or something of the sort. They all seemed to have the same pale blond hair and blue eyes. It was kind of eerie if you thought about it.  
  
Lucius had led him to the drawing room. Yet another display of good taste. And wealth. It was enough to make a person feel very small and unimportant.  
  
"Sit. I imagine you came here for a reason?"  
  
Lucius took a seat in a big arm chair and Numair sat across from him.  
For the first time he got a good look at his host. It wasn't exactly what he'd expected.  
  
He'd thought he'd be older. Lucius appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He had the same blond hair and blue eyes as the people in the paintings. It made him annoyingly handsome. Eck.  
  
"Yeah, actually I did. I had a very good reason for comeing here." he took a deep breath. Now that he was here he wasn't sure he could do it.  
'Coward, get on with it.' he thought.  
  
"My father told me a lot of things, uh, about you. And him. And some things he did." another deep breath. He decided to cut straight to the point. No since in useless rambling. "I want to you to take me to Voldomort. I want to join you." yep. Just cut straight to the point Numie. Brilliant.  
  
Lucius studied his face for a moment. Numair couldn't read his expression,  
but from the long silence he judged the other man wasn't pleased.  
  
"First off, never call the Dark Lord by his name. If I hear you use it again I will personaly remove your tounge." Numair swallowed nervously.  
"And secondly, what makes you think he'd want you hmmm? By all rights I should just kill you and get it over with. Delarahs was foolish to tell you such things. He placed us all in danger."  
  
Numair's heart sank. So much for revenge. This fools brigade was going to end right here. It was most disapointing.  
  
"However, you are terribly eager. Young, full of ambition. Mayhaps you could be of some use......"  
  
Numair ignored the cold tone Lucius was using. So what if he was being talked about like some kind of tool, if it got him out of being killed,  
who cared?  
  
"But are you sure this is what you want? There is no turning back. A commitment to the Dark Lord is one made for life. And if you were to refuse, well, I wouldn't be able to let you leave now would I? You've gotten yourself into quite the box."  
  
Numair sighed. It was true. No way out of it now. "Yes, nothing would please me more."  
  
"Ah, good. Well then, this will be interesting won't it..........." 


	5. Chapter Five

A/N: Hope yall like the way I depicted Malfoy. I was hoping it wouldn't completely stink.... :)  
  
Chapter Five:  
  
Pain. There was a whole lot of pain. Numair didn't even remember what happened. All he could recall was a scarlet eyed figure, talking to him,  
pleased by him he imagined from the tone. And then there was pain. Burning terrible agony.  
  
When he woke up, safe at home in his bed, he thought it was surely all just some wild nightmare. And then he'd felt it. Burning on his left forarm. The Dark Mark.  
  
For days on end it seemed like it would never stop. The mark was bright on his skin, dark, terrible...... but he'd wanted it. And now he had it.  
It was oddly thrilling, like he was in on some kind of secret. A horrible secret.  
  
Eventually the pain died down to a mere easily ignored throbbing, except on the few occasions when the Dark Lord called his servants to him. Then the pain was worse.  
  
Numair eventually got used to it. And while he did he spent all his free time hunting a certain auror.....  
  
It didn't take long. The mud-blood and his family were painfully easy to find. Especially his family. Numair had no intentions of just killing him.  
Oh no, that was to good for the vermin. He wanted him to suffer. Wanted him to feel the pain that he himself was feeling. He started with the young man's dear sister.  
  
She was just a muggle. A poor, defenceless muggle. Catching her was almost to easy. Years later he'd hear her screams in his nightmares and be haunted all the things he did, but at the time it didn't effect him one bit, beyond making him want revenge even more.  
  
He was so filled with hurt, with anger, with pain. The girls pain didn't make it go away. It made it stronger. And the need to be rid of it stronger.  
  
That was why he was so careless in getting the auror. He wanted him to suffer physicaly now. And he did. Oh he did.  
  
The mud-blood had thought himself skilled at battleing the dark arts. He'd never before had to face someone quite like Numair though. You couldn't take away one of the things a man held terribly dear to him and expect him not to come after you. It was a lesson he learned the hard way.  
  
Numair kept him alive for days. It was dificult. The Cruciactus curse was hard on a person after a while, and muggle forms of torture weren't any kinder. When he finally allowed the wretch to die, it was with small satisfaction. He found the man's death didn't make him feel any better about what happened to his father. It gave him no satisfaction.  
  
So he was careless. He made a mistake. Leaving the remains in the home of the mud-blood's muggle parents wasn't the wisest idea he'd ever made.  
He'd been the only wizard seen in the area for ages, so naturally all fingers were pointed at him.  
  
That's how he'd ended up were he was now, in a small cell surounded by dementors, awaiting the day of his trial. They were slow about it, but he didn't care. The dementors didn't have much effect on him. Because he knew he was guilty. He knew and he didn't want to fight it. He deserved, wanted, no, -needed- punishment. He didn't care if he died.  
It gave the vile creatures nothing to feed off of. It was amazing how disapointed a unseeable face could seem.  
  
Anika was in shock. Complete shock. The auror had turned up dead in a most gruesome fashion, and now her brother was being blamed for it. And the dead auror hadn't been just any old auror, not to her.  
  
She'd known him well. Very well. They'd met when she went in to auror training, and become friends. More than friends. A year and they'd planned to marry. The event with her father hadn't changed her affection for him in the slightest- it had been her who'd given him the tip after all.  
  
The way she saw it, it had been an accident. The auror, Mark as he was called, had done his job. She couldn't hold it against him, loving him the way she did.  
  
She'd been planning on telling him something most important when she'd gotten the news. She was just getting over the initial shock when she heard who'd they'd picked up as the killer.  
  
And now here she was, waiting patiently to get into his holding cell to see him.  
  
He couldn't have possibly done it. There was some mistake. Her precious little Numie could never have done something so horrible. That's what her heart kept telling her. Her brain was saying that it was all to true,  
and it was all her fault.  
  
Numair looked up curiously as all the dementors went away. Someone was standing there at his cell door, looking at him, but he couldn't see who it was.  
  
"Numie?"  
  
"Ani? Is that you?"  
  
"Of course silly. They've told me the most aweful thing....."  
  
He cut her off. "Oh dear sister, it's the truth, how terrible could it be? You always knew were I was heading didn't you? And yet here you are,  
shocked." he laughed softly. "Look at me, I'm a complete reck. And whatever they decide to do to me, I deserve it. I'm not even going to bother defending myself, no point. They won't believe me."  
  
Ani stared at him, fighting tears. This was all her fault. She should have payed more attention to him. Should have been there. Shouldn't have ever spoken to Mark, or told him about there father. Shouldn't have.......  
  
"Oh Numie, how could you?" she felt like breaking down in tears. It was to much. "How could you?"  
  
"Oh it was quite easy really. I could give you all the details if you'd like."  
  
She nearly gagged. Ani looked at him for a moment. Really looked at him.  
It wasn't the brother she knew. He had a bit of beard from not being allowed to shave for quite some time, and he'd let his hair grow long.  
It was a bit on the dirty side at the moment. But what was most differnet was his eyes. Before they'd been so beautiful, filled with a child-like innocence, even when he was older. It had always made her think of a over happy puppy. And now..... now they were empty. Haunted. Dull.  
  
How could this man be were sweet brother? It didn't seem possible.  
  
"What's the matter lovie, don't like how I've turned out?" Numair flashed her a smile. "I'm rather proud of it myself."  
  
He turned so his back was facing her and curled up in a corner. "Now,  
if you don't mind I'm going to get some sleep. Some time withing the next century I'm going to have a trial and I want to have some dignity when I admit to guilt."  
  
Then he was silent. Ani watched him for a moment more, then turned away.  
  
The trial was held the next day, in the Ministry dungeon and led by the infamous Barty Crouch.  
  
Ani debated not going. She knew how it would end. But she couldn't live with herself if she didn't. And besides, she'd come up with a plan of sorts. It may or may not work, she wasn't sure. But it was worth a try.  
  
She tried hard, but she couldn't hate him for what he'd done. He was her brother. As she'd said before, her 'other half'. It was her duty to do something for him, anything. And then she could settle into despising him. He had to be alive and well for her to do so though.  
  
It was a tough choice to make, as she sat in the top row, watching as the dementors brought him in and he was chained to the chair. Crouch started in on him. He opened his mouth to speak, no doubt to declair his guilt, but any stood up.  
  
"Wait, sir, Mr. Crouch, I can't let you do this."  
  
"And why not? He deserves what punishment he gets, an there isn't anything you can....."  
  
"But there is. Becuase he wasn't there. He didn't do it."  
  
Some were beside her a old, silver haired wizard with half moon spectacles smiled to himself.  
  
She came up with an elaborate lie, an alaby of sorts. It took her the good part of an hour to explain it, but when she was done no one could dispute it, especially since part of it was true.  
  
The morning before Mark had been found Numair had been at Mungo's sitting with their mother. Ani took that and fashioned a story out of it. A believable story since there was a nurse who could vouch for part of it being true.  
  
Numair just sat there, staring at his sister, wondering what he'd done to deserve this.  
  
It took 


End file.
